Movie No. 117 (2013): FIRES ON THE PLAIN
Fires On The Plain (1959)
Director: Kon Ichikawa
Cast: Eiji Funakoshi, Osamu Takizawa
In Japanese, and occasional Tagalog, with English subtitles
The central character of the film is Tamura, a Japanese soldier who got afflicted with TB during the final days of Japanese occupation in the Philippines. In the beginning of the film, he is shown seeking medication but his demoralized platoon leader gives him a grenade instead to commit suicide because the make-shift hospitals for ill-stricken and wounded Japanese soldiers are full. But he insists on staying alive and begins to head toward Palompon (in Ormoc); he is told that there's an order for Japanese soldiers to go there for evacuation to Cebu. Along the way, he meets other soldiers who, like him, are emaciated, demoralized, hunger-stricken and disease-afflicted.
Director: Kon Ichikawa
Cast: Eiji Funakoshi, Osamu Takizawa
In Japanese, and occasional Tagalog, with English subtitles
The central character of the film is Tamura, a Japanese soldier who got afflicted with TB during the final days of Japanese occupation in the Philippines. In the beginning of the film, he is shown seeking medication but his demoralized platoon leader gives him a grenade instead to commit suicide because the make-shift hospitals for ill-stricken and wounded Japanese soldiers are full. But he insists on staying alive and begins to head toward Palompon (in Ormoc); he is told that there's an order for Japanese soldiers to go there for evacuation to Cebu. Along the way, he meets other soldiers who, like him, are emaciated, demoralized, hunger-stricken and disease-afflicted.
The searing, anti-war film is told on the point of view of a Japanese soldier. And the story that he relates is completely different from what we know. The film makes me want to pity the conditions of the soldiers despite the atrocities they committed. It's hard to imagine the macabre and gruesome acts they did for survival. This movie depicts all these. So, the film is a testament that not all Japanese soldiers would commit suicide (and die for the country).
Rating: 4.0/4.0
Date seen: May 13, 2013
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